The Political Whore

How about suspending its records supervisor for 10 days?

The crime, according to cross-Bay rival Tampa Tribune? Bad-mouthing the Times to Times staffer Brendan Watson who had attended a neighborhood meeting about crime watch. Watson was apparently there because he lives in the neighborhood and involved in its crime watch. When he approached police records supervisor Bill Wilson, the following exchange occurred:

In the complaint, Watson said Wilson asked him where he worked. Once Watson responded, Wilson admitted to crossing his index fingers, holding his hands up in front of Watson, taking a step back, and saying, “Not the St. Pete Times,” the documents say.

He then proceeded to tell Watson of the difficulties he had had dealing with employees of the newspaper. Wilson, for instance, said he was delighted that Leonora Minai, a former police reporter, had left the paper to work at Duke University, rather than Wilson’s alma mater, the University of North Carolina, the documents say.

Wilson said he meant his remarks to be lighthearted banter. Watson was offended and filed a complaint with the department. According to the Tribune, he e-mailed it directly to Chief Chuck Harmon — and cc:’ed Mayor Rick Baker.

Heads will roll!!

Aside from the utter hypocrisy of a newspaperman, errrrr, multimedia journalist seeking to silence/punish what appears to be free speech (albeit poorly chosen free speech, in light of the fact that Wilson was dispatched to the meeting in an ongoing attempt to foster better ties with the neighborhood), there is the matter of the dubious wisdom of Wilson offending the one Times employee who has publicly admitted buying a gun for personal safety given his neighborhood (Palmetto Park).

So the score on Brendan Watson stands at Second Amendment, Yea; First Amendment, Nay.

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